The oak door of the library closed gently behind the four friends. Kevin walked in front, his dark grey eyes scanning the rows of towering bookshelves, each packed with wisdom and mystery.
"This way," Kevin whispered, leading his roommates to a secluded corner. Four chairs surrounded a heavy oak table, on which parchment and quills were already laid out.
Wesley sat down eagerly. "Professor McGonagall asked us to write about our understanding of Gamp's Law of Transfiguration. It should be at least twelve inches long. I have never written such a long assignment."
Fabian pushed up his glasses. "My mother mentioned this rule, but I can't remember the details."
Ernesto held his head high, his voice full of pride: "I have a collection of books on this subject at home, but..." His voice trailed off, "I don't usually read much theory in this area."
Kevin had already stood up: "I'll go find some reference books first."
His eyes wandered among the bookshelves. His True Eyes allowed him to easily identify which books contained powerful magical fluctuations, but he had no use for this ability yet. Soon, he returned with three heavy books: Basic Principles of Transfiguration, Five Exceptions to Gamp's Law, and Theory of Magical Transfiguration.
"That should be enough," he said, placing the books on the table before sitting down and beginning to study.
While the other three were still searching for information, Kevin's quill was already moving rapidly on the parchment. His experience as a college student in his previous life made him familiar with this kind of assignment. He first wrote down the basic content of Gamp's Law: Transfiguration cannot conjure food out of thin air, cannot create real life, and cannot change the basic properties of matter...
In less than half an hour, Kevin had put down his quill. His parchment was already filled with neat handwriting, exactly twelve inches long.
"You finished?" Wesley's eyes widened. He had written less than two inches on his parchment.
Fabian came over to read it: "Let me see how you write it."
Kevin pushed his homework over. "It's very simple. First explain the content and origin of Gamp's Law, then raise a few related questions, find the answers from the book and write them down, and finally summarize your understanding."
Ernesto raised an eyebrow: "This... this is too tricky."
"Professor McGonagall assigned the homework to help us understand Transfiguration, not to embarrass us," Kevin said calmly. "This method can not only complete the requirements, but also allow us to truly learn something."
Wesley slammed the table. "Genius! Why didn't I think of doing homework this way!"
Fabian had begun to imitate Kevin's method: "Write the definition first… then ask the question… yes, this way the structure is much clearer."
Although Ernesto didn't say anything, he quietly adjusted his writing style. An hour later, all three of them had finished their homework. Wesley stretched and said, "I've never found it so easy to do homework."
"Are you hungry?" Kevin put away the quill, "Let's go to the restaurant."
The dining room at Hogwarts was always full of life. The four of them sat down at the long Ravenclaw table and enjoyed the food prepared by the house elves. Wesley said as he stuffed mashed potatoes into his mouth, "What shall we do next?"
"Explore the castle," Kevin said. "We have only been here for two days. We don't know Hogwarts well enough yet."
Fabian nodded: "My mother said that Hogwarts has many secrets."
Ernesto snorted, "Children of pure-blood families know this from childhood."
Wesley didn't care: "That's great, you lead the way?"
Ernesto's expression froze: "I...I haven't been here either. I've only heard descriptions of it."
Kevin stood up. "Then let's explore together. Start from the bottom and work our way up."
Their exploration began on the ground floor where the restaurant was located. In the painting at the entrance to the kitchen, unlike the one in the morning when there was only fruit inside, there was now a girl holding a pear and winking at them.
Kevin remembered that the Hufflepuff common room was near the kitchen, but he couldn't remember the exact location. He only recalled that the entrance was near a pile of barrels. The four of them walked around the basement and found the pile of barrels.
"The entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room should be right here," Kevin pointed at the barrels, "but I don't know the correct order to knock in."
Ernesto frowned: "How do you know so much about this?"
"I read it in a book," Kevin answered casually.
They continued to explore and found the entrance to the Slytherin common room, a bare stone wall. Kevin remembered that he needed a password to enter, but did not try.
"Tomorrow's Potions classroom will be here," Kevin pointed to a cold stone room. Through the window, one could see that it was filled with various glassware.
The first floor was mainly composed of the entrance hall and marble staircase. They met the caretaker, Filch, a skinny man with cloudy eyes. "Freshmen? Don't let me catch you making trouble!" His cat followed at his feet, staring at the four of them with yellow eyes.
"We're just getting familiar with the environment," Kevin said calmly.
Filch walked away muttering. Wesley whispered, "He's scary."
There were many empty classrooms and staff lounges on the second floor. When they passed the infirmary, they heard groans coming from inside.
"Someone got hurt on the first day of school?" Fabian pushed his glasses up.
"It must be Gryffindor," Ernesto said dismissively.
Kevin did not participate in the discussion, but noted down the location of the History of Magic classroom and Professor McGonagall's office. When they passed the Moaning Myrtle bathroom, they heard faint sobbing sounds from inside, and the four of them quickened their pace tacitly.
Around the corner on the third floor, they ran into George and Fred Weasley. The twins saw Kevin and immediately waved enthusiastically.
"Kevin!" one of them shouted. "Cedric said you were stealing the show in Charms!"
Kevin nodded in greeting and introduced his roommates, "This is George and Fred Weasley, second years from Gryffindor."
"I'm Fred," said the Weasley who had spoken.
"No, I'm Fred," the other retorted, and they both laughed.
Wesley asked curiously, "Which one of you is George?"
"It's a mystery," the twins said in unison.
Kevin ignored their jokes. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for new secret passages," George said. "By the way, let me remind you, do you have Potions class tomorrow?"
Fabian nodded, "Yes, with Gryffindor."
The twins made exaggerated scared faces. "Then you're lucky. Snape will spray all his venom on Gryffindor."
"He favors Slytherins," another added. "If you're in classes with Slytherins, you're in trouble."
Ernesto frowned, "My father said Professor Snape was a powerful wizard."
"Powerful but mean," George said. "By the way, are you interested in taking a night tour together tonight? We can show you the real Hogwarts."
Kevin shook his head, "We've only been here for two days, so let's get familiar with the locations of the classrooms in the castle."
Fred made a heartbroken expression: "Ravenclaw's caution! Well, feel free to contact us if you change your mind."
After saying goodbye to the twins, the four continued their exploration. Outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, the door suddenly opened and a tall, thin man walked out. It was Professor Victor, who had appeared at the beginning of the semester. He looked pale, and there were still many strange black threads entangled around him.
"Mr. Kevin Hawthorne," the man called Kevin's name accurately in a low voice, "I heard that you performed very well in both Charms and Transfiguration classes today."
Kevin nodded cautiously: "Professor Victor."
"I look forward to seeing your performance in my class," Professor Victor said meaningfully, then walked away quickly, his black robe billowing behind him.
"How does he know you?" Wesley asked in surprise.
Fabian pushed up his glasses and said, "And how did he know your class performance so quickly?"
Ernesto lowered his voice, "Kevin, be careful. My father checked his background and could find almost no information. All we know is that Dumbledore hired him personally."
Kevin did not answer, but just noted this detail. As the sky gradually darkened, the four decided to return to Ravenclaw Tower.
Back in the common room, the blue draperies and starry ceiling created a sense of tranquility.
Wesley slumped in his armchair. "I walked a lot today."
Fabian took out tomorrow's textbook and started to prepare. Ernesto hesitated for a moment and also took out One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.
Kevin stood in front of the window, looking at the dark lake outside and the giant squid that occasionally swam by. The first day of formal classes at Hogwarts was over, but his journey had just begun. The black threads and strange attention on Professor Victor made him feel vaguely uneasy, but at this moment, under the warm lights of the Ravenclaw Tower, he felt a long-lost sense of belonging.
"Kevin?" Wesley's voice interrupted his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing," Kevin turned and smiled, "Just thinking about Potions class tomorrow."
Ernesto raised his head: "Don't worry, no matter how mean Snape is, he won't target Ravenclaw. After all, there is Gryffindor."
Fabian whispered, "I hope so."
At this moment, Kevin was more concerned about Professor Victor's special attention to him and the black threads wrapped around him. No matter what that meant, he decided to remain vigilant.